Give me back my face, pleads pensioner

Edward Crook

Sophie Arnold

A man disfigured after surgery to remove a cancerous growth has been waiting more than EIGHT YEARS for doctors to put it right.

Edward Crook has been left with no nose and had part of his mouth and most of the muscles in his shoulder removed during the surgery in 2008, leaving him disabled and barely able to leave his home.

They put me in a coma for two and a half months. They cut me to pieces but I was in a coma so I didn’t know anything about it. I was never told why they did it either - they just said it was necessary

Edward Crook

The 71-year-old retired engineer claims he was initially told the surgery would just be to remove the sore and a small piece of his shoulder would be taken to replace what they cut away.

But two and half months after the surgery, Edward, who originally comes Scholes, woke from a coma to discover what they had done to him and despite his pleas for reconstructive surgery, says he still hasn’t been referred by Manchester Royal Hospital.

“I can’t do anything, they have totally ruined my life,” he said.

“I get comments from people all the time, I don’t really want to go out.

“I just wanted my day in court, not for the money - although that would have helped - but to make sure they can’t do this ever again to another person.”

Despite repeated requests for a comment to Manchester Royal Infirmary they failed to provide one.

Edward, who is from Wigan originally but now lives in Bolton, said: “It was just a sore on my upper lip, under my nose, but it kept getting bigger and bigger.

“It was more than two years before my doctor sent me to see a specialist. He did a biopsy on me, found out I had cancer. I underwent surgery but they totally butchered me.

“They said they would just remove the sore and they would take a piece off my shoulder, about two inches, and replace what they had removed from my face. But they removed my nose and my mouth. They took most of the muscle from my shoulder and my shoulder blades.

“They put me in a coma for two and a half months. They cut me to pieces but I was in a coma so I didn’t know anything about it. I was never told why they did it either - they just said it was necessary. I have spoken to a lot of people who said they shouldn’t have done it.”

Edward has sought legal advice but claims to have been messed around by solicitors who led him on for three years before telling him he had no case.

But it isn’t money that Edward wants, he just wants to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.

“I had a solicitor and for three years they told me we would be going to court and all that but when it came down to it they said ‘I’m sorry, you’ve not got a case’,” he explained.

“I’ve tried to speak to other solicitors but they said because it has been three years they can’t do anything legally.

“We went to Manchester to see a dental surgeon. He said he had contacted Liverpool Hospital for us and we should wait to hear him from them about reconstructive surgery within a month.

“We waited months and months and never heard anything. So we rang Liverpool but they said they hadn’t heard anything about it.

“I have got a statement that was written by two district nurses to see if they could get me some extra money to help with my travel costs because I am now disabled. I can only eat processed food and I can’t walk very far without having to stop. I used to love fishing and I can’t do that anymore because they cut me to pieces.

“I used to play darts and make a bit of money out of it too but I can’t do that anymore because of the muscle they took from my shoulders. I can’t do anything, they have totally ruined my life.”